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Pulsed 86Sr-labeling and NanoSIMS imaging to study coral biomineralization at ultra-structural length scales

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Abstract

A method to label marine biocarbonates is developed based on a concentration enrichment of a minor stable isotope of a trace element that is a natural component of seawater, resulting in the formation of biocarbonate with corresponding isotopic enrichments. This biocarbonate is subsequently imaged with a NanoSIMS ion microprobe to visualize the locations of the isotopic marker on sub-micrometric length scales, permitting resolution of all ultra-structural details. In this study, a scleractinian coral, Pocillopora damicornis, was labeled 3 times with 86Sr-enhanced seawater for a period of 48 h with 5 days under normal seawater conditions separating each labeling event. Two non-specific cellular stress biomarkers, glutathione-S-transferase activity and porphyrin concentration plus carbonic anhydrase, an enzymatic marker involved in the physiology of carbonate biomineralization, as well as unchanged levels of zooxanthellae photosynthesis efficiency indicate that coral physiological processes are not affected by the 86Sr-enhancement. NanoSIMS images of the 86Sr/44Ca ratio in skeleton formed during the experiment allow for a determination of the average extension rate of the two major ultra-structural components of the coral skeleton: Rapid Accretion Deposits are found to form on average about 4.5 times faster than Thickening Deposits. The method opens up new horizons in the study of biocarbonate formation because it holds the potential to observe growth of calcareous structures such as skeletons, shells, tests, spines formed by a wide range of organisms under essentially unperturbed physiological conditions.

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Acknowledgments

Collier, B. Gaume, S. Shafir, C. Kopp, J. Martinez and A. Thomen are thanked for fruitful discussions. We gratefully acknowledge support from the Monahan Foundation and the Franco-American commission. This work was supported in part by the European Research Council Advanced Grant 246749 (BIOCARB), the MNHN program ATM “Biomineralizations”, grants from the CNRS (“InterVie” and “PIR Interface”) and a grant from the Polish Ministry of Science and higher education (project N307-015733). The manuscript has benefited substantially from constructive reviews by Dr. Nicky Allison, Dr. Alex Gagnon and an anonymous reviewer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Minéralogie et Cosmochimie du Muséum UMR7202, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, CP 52, 75005, Paris, France

    C. Brahmi & A. Meibom

  2. Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques UMR7208, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 43 rue Cuvier, 75005, Paris, France

    C. Brahmi & I. Domart-Coulon

  3. Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii at Mano’a—Kewalo Marine Laboratory, 41 Ahui Street, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    L. Rougée & R. H. Richmond

  4. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Mano’a, 1680 East West Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    D. G. Pyle & J. J. Mahoney

  5. Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warszawa, Poland

    J. Stolarski

  6. Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii at Mano’a, 2500 Campus Road, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    G. K. Ostrander

  7. Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, ENAC IIE LGB, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    A. Meibom

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  1. C. Brahmi
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  2. I. Domart-Coulon
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  3. L. Rougée
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  4. D. G. Pyle
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  5. J. Stolarski
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  6. J. J. Mahoney
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  7. R. H. Richmond
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  8. G. K. Ostrander
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  9. A. Meibom
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Correspondence to C. Brahmi or A. Meibom.

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Brahmi, C., Domart-Coulon, I., Rougée, L. et al. Pulsed 86Sr-labeling and NanoSIMS imaging to study coral biomineralization at ultra-structural length scales. Coral Reefs 31, 741–752 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-012-0890-3

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